Former commandery with castle, church and outbuildings, Medieval architectural ensemble in Köniz, Switzerland.
Köniz Castle is a former commandery complex comprising a castle, a church, and outbuildings grouped around a courtyard. The oldest sections, including parts of the church nave, date from the 11th century and are Romanesque; the main building was rebuilt in 1610 in a post-Gothic style, and a west wing was added in 1664.
The Teutonic Knights received this property in 1226 from King Henry and Emperor Frederick II, which sparked a decades-long dispute over ownership. The buildings were subsequently modified and expanded over the following centuries.
The former commandery church is still the parish church of the Swiss Reformed congregation of Köniz. The castle buildings now hold a restaurant, a music school, the Bern School Museum and the Kulturhof, an artists' space and gallery created after the municipality bought the site in 1994.
The complex stands around a courtyard in central Köniz, with the church, the west wing used as a parsonage and the remaining buildings grouped together. The castle buildings now hold a restaurant, a music school, the Bern School Museum and the Kulturhof art space, so parts are entered during opening hours rather than viewed only from outside.
The castle's west wing has served as the parsonage of the former monastery church since 1825, while the rest of the building became a parish centre in 2000. Before that, from 1890 to 1919, the complex housed an institution for the blind.
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